Published on February 27, 2025
All Spanish tenses made easy: A breakdown
Feeling overwhelmed by all the Spanish tenses? No worries –our guide will break them down for you!
Feeling overwhelmed by all the Spanish tenses? No worries –our guide will break them down for you!
Just like with any other language, if we’re looking to become fluent in Spanish we need to get (very) acquainted with all types of tenses in Spanish and their correct usage. This is key for communicating effectively and clearly.
And, yes, verb conjugation can be, unsurprisingly, one of the trickiest parts of learning Spanish, but with time and practice, you’ll become a natural. So, let’s take a look at this overview of all Spanish tenses, how to use them and example sentences. Ready, set, go!
When we talk about Spanish tenses, we’re talking about time. Just like in English, tenses in Spanish help us explain when an action (verb) takes place – whether it has already happened, is happening or will happen. To indicate this, we conjugate the verb form appropriately (we add, for example, a particular ending to the infinitive form).
Now, Spanish verb conjugations are divided into different ‘moods’ depending on the speaker’s intention, and understanding them will help us distinguish between tenses. The three grammatical moods in Spanish are:
Do you want to know more about Spanish grammar? With Lingoda, you can learn it from native teachers in live, interactive classes!
Okay, we now know what Spanish tenses are and what they can do for us. But how many are there exactly? Well, the most common tenses are past, present and future (illustrated in the three examples given for the indicative mood), but there are 18 in total. These are categorized into simple and compound sentences:
Now, are you ready for an overview of all Spanish tenses? Let’s dive into the different types of tenses in Spanish, which we have classified by mood and simple and compound tenses below.
These are the tenses that make up the indicative mood:
These are the most common tenses and you’re likely to use them often:
The present tense in Spanish (presente): We use it to talk about something that is happening now or about habits.
We form this tense by removing the -ar, -er or -ir ending from the infinitive form and replacing it with the ending that fits the pronoun. Here’s a chart with the new endings:
| Pronoun | -ar | -er | -ir |
| yo (I) | -o | -o | -o |
| tú (you) | -as | -es | -es |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | -a | -e | -e |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -an | -en | -en |
| nosotros/as (we) | -amos | -emos | -imos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | -an | -en | -en |
Examples:
Preterite (pretérito): To speak about an event that happened at a certain point in the past. To conjugate it, we also change the infinitive’s ending for another:
| Pronoun | -ar | -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | -é | -í |
| tú (you) | -aste | -iste |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | -ó | -ió |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -aron | -ieron |
| nosotros/as (we) | -amos | -imos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | -aron | -ieron |
Imperfect (pretérito imperfecto): To talk about past events without a specific end. For example, we use it to talk about past habits or events that weren’t completed –in English, we would translate it as ‘used to’:
| Pronoun | -ar | -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | -aba | -ía |
| tú (you) | -abas | -ías |
| él ella, eso (he, she, it) | -aba | -ía |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -aban | -ían |
| nosotros/as (we) | -ábamos | -íamos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | -aban | -ían |
The future tense in Spanish (futuro): We use it to talk about the future (something that will or may happen). In English, it would be equivalent to the form ‘will + verb’.
For this tense and for regular verbs, all endings are the same regardless of the verb. All we have to do is add these endings to the infinitive form:
| Pronoun | -ar / -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | -é |
| tú (you) | -ás |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | -á |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -án |
| nosotros/as (we) | -emos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | -án |
Conditional (condicional): We use it to make requests or talk about hypotheticals. This tense’s’ conjugation is similar to the future tense and in English it would be equivalent to ‘would + verb’:
| Pronoun | -ar / -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | -ía |
| tú (you) | -ías |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | -ía |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -ían |
| nosotros/as (we) | -íamos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | -ían |
Present perfect (pretérito perfecto): For actions that were completed recently or for something that started in the past and is ongoing. We form it with a conjugated haber (have/has) + the main verb in past participle:
| Pronoun | Haber |
| yo (I) | he |
| tú (you) | has |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | ha |
| ustedes (you – plural) | han |
| nosotros/as (we) | hemos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | han |
Past perfect (pluscuamperfecto): To describe an action that was completed before another. Just like with the tense above, we also use a conjugated form of haber + main verb in p.p. (in English: had + p.p. verb):
| Pronoun | Haber |
| yo (I) | había |
| tú (you) | habías |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | había |
| ustedes (you – plural) | habían |
| nosotros/as (we) | habíamos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | habían |
Preterite perfect (pretérito anterior): To express an action in the past that happened right before another action in the past. This is very uncommon and reserved for extremely formal language.
| Pronoun | Haber |
| yo (I) | hube |
| tú (you) | hubiste |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | hubo |
| ustedes (you – plural) | hubieron |
| nosotros/as (we) | hubimos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | hubieron |
Future perfect (futuro perfecto): To describe a future action that will happen before another action in the future. In English, it would be equivalent to ‘will have + p.p. verb’.
| Pronoun | Haber |
| yo (I) | habré |
| tú (you) | habrás |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | habrá |
| ustedes (you – plural) | habrán |
| nosotros/as (we) | habremos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | habrán |
Conditional perfect (condicional perfecto): To discuss events that would’ve happened had another event not occurred or actions that are likely to have happened (assumptions or suppositions). This would be equivalent to ‘would have + p.p. verb’.
| Pronoun | Haber |
| yo (I) | habría |
| tú (you) | habrías |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | habría |
| ustedes (you – plural) | habrían |
| nosotros/as (we) | habríamos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | habrían |
Let’s explore the subjunctive mood:
Present subjunctive (presente del subjuntivo): To communicate uncertainty, hope and hypothetical events. To conjugate it, we take the yo form in the present tense, remove the -o ending and replace it with the adequate ending:
| Pronoun | -ar | -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | -e | -a |
| tú (you) | -es | -as |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | -e | -a |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -en | -an |
| nosotros/as (we) | -emos | -amos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | -en | -an |
Imperfect subjunctive (imperfecto del subjuntivo): To refer to feelings and desires about past events, hopes and hypothetical scenarios (equivalent to ‘if’). For this tense, we take the third person plural (ellos, ellas) of the preterite, remove the -ron ending and add the appropriate ending:
| Pronoun | -ar / -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | -ra |
| tú (you) | -ras |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | -ra |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -ran |
| nosotros/as (we) | -ramos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | -ran |
Future subjunctive (futuro del subjuntivo): This tense is largely obsolete and has mostly been replaced by the present subjunctive, but we may still find it in legal documents. To conjugate it, we follow the same steps as with the imperfect subjunctive, but use these endings:
| Pronoun | -ar / -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | -re |
| tú (you) | -res |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | -re |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -ren |
| nosotros/as (we) | -remos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | -ren |
Present perfect subjunctive (pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo): Relates to past actions or events that started in the past and still impact the present or will affect the future.
| Pronoun | -ar / -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | haya |
| tú (you) | hayas |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | haya |
| ustedes (you – plural) | hayan |
| nosotros/as (we) | hayamos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | hayan |
Past perfect subjunctive (pluscuamperfecto del subjuntivo): To refer to events in the past that someone could not do. It describes hypothetical events in the past and past actions that came before other actions.
| Pronoun | -ar / -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | hubiera |
| tú (you) | hubieras |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | hubiera |
| ustedes (you – plural) | hubieran |
| nosotros/as (we) | hubiéramos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | hubieran |
Future perfect subjunctive (futuro perfecto del subjuntivo): To describe actions that will have happened at some point in the future. This tense is rare and is mostly used in legal contexts, having been largely replaced by the past perfect subjunctive.
| Pronoun | -ar / -er / -ir |
| yo (I) | hubiere |
| tú (you) | hubieres |
| él, ella, eso (he, she, it) | hubiere |
| ustedes (you – plural) | hubieren |
| nosotros/as (we) | hubiéremos |
| ellos, ellas (they) | hubieren |
For commands or orders, we use the imperative, which is only conjugated with tú, ustedes, usted and nosotros/as.
Affirmative imperative (imperativo afirmativo): For telling someone what to do. To form it for regular verbs, we take the verb, remove the -ar, -er, -ir ending and replace it with the following endings:
| Pronoun | -ar | -er | -ir |
| tú (you) | -a | -e | -e |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -en | -an | -an |
| usted (you – formal) | -e | -a | -a |
| nosotros/as (we) | -emos | -amos | -amos |
Negative imperative (imperativo negativo): For telling someone what not to do. We need to add a no or nunca (never) before the verb:
| Pronoun | -ar | -er | -ir |
| tú (you) | -es | -as | -as |
| ustedes (you – plural) | -en | -an | -an |
| usted (you – formal) | -e | -a | -a |
| nosotros/as (we) | -emos | -amos | -amos |
Note: All of the verbs discussed are regular verbs. When it comes to irregular verbs, it’s best we memorize them as we go.
There are 18 tenses in Spanish, which can be divided into mood and simple or compound tenses.
All but future subjunctive, preterite perfect and future perfect subjunctive tenses are key if your aim is to speak Spanish fluently. However, by learning the simple presente, future and past, you’ll already be able to communicate at a basic level, so you may want to learn these first!
We hope this overview of all Spanish tenses will help you get a great head start on your Spanish learning journey. Now, if you’re looking to give your skills a serious boost, we encourage you to join us at Lingoda. You’ll work with native-level teachers who’ll help you build the confidence to speak from day one, thanks to our immersive approach. Plus, you can choose your class schedule and whether you’d prefer individual or small group lessons. Sounds good, huh?
